LMH students were immersed in the magic of the Harry Potter world at Warner Bros. Studios yesterday, as they went behind the scenes of the most successful film franchise in history. They even got to find out about some of the insider movie secrets that produced such special effects as the flying car, the troll in the girls’ bathroom, and of course, all those Quidditch matches (imitations of which can be seen in the University Parks, albeit in a more ‘down-to-earth’ fashion).

The Forbidden Forest especially captured students’ imaginations, and they were thrilled to compare the Great Hall on set to the real-life inspiration they had seen in Christ Church. As they were going round on their tour, students quizzed each other on their knowledge of spells (good ―or perhaps very, very bad― for students’ Latin), on events in the book, and names of the Harry Potter cast. All were impressed at the amount of work, detail and artistry that had gone into the films.

Back to reality at LMH, students had the chance to enter another magical realm as they opted to watch ‘Night at the Museum’ for movie night. No wizarding tricks here, but perhaps something even more powerful: ancient forces in the Golden Tablet of Pharaoh Akhmenrah, which make other museum exhibits come alive after closing time. Perhaps it’s worth stopping by the Ashmolean one of these nights, just to…check.